Author : Tocino, Edison M.

Summary : Several pre-freezing treatments were made in order to preserve fresh qualities of "carabao" mango after freezing and thawing. Steeping of ripe fruits (scooped) in 40 deg Brix syrup with 0.1% ascorbic acid prior to freezing at -29 deg C was highly acceptable to a taste panel. Lower freezing temperature (-29deg C) brought about less ascorbic acid loss, higher drained weight values, and greater acceptability to a taste panel. Except for slight softening of the tissue, fresh qualities were retained even after three months of storage at -29 deg C. Liquid nitrogen immersion (-196 deg C) caused textural damage due to cracks, but preserved color quite well; ascorbic acid was less degraded at lower freezing temperature.